Quality heat pumps will extract heat from the air even below 0F, and they are more efficient than resistive heat (disclaimer: I have a high quality heat pump). It's not a silver bullet, but combined with weatherizing homes properly, it would've reduced peak demand on ERCOT (although ERCOT should probably have pressure applied on it to force natural gas generation and infrastructure to winterize so that this infrastructure can continue to operate during extended cold snaps, because it's clear in the decade(s) ERCOT has known this is an issue [1], they haven't done a damn thing to address the problem).

[1] https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Tex... ("A federal report that summer recommended steps including installing heating elements around pipes and increasing the amount of reserve power available before storms, noting many of those same warnings were issued after similar blackouts 22 years earlier and had gone unheeded.")

It's pretty predictable that people in (relatively warm) Texas would buy cheaper models that cut out at higher temperatures.

Weatherization makes any heating and cooling more efficient too, so everyone should assess for improvements.

I'm just advocating for (or, attempting to) improved policy and planning around energy consumption and infrastructure. Penny wise pound foolish is getting old.

Mitsubishi units can still extract energy down to -13F / -25C:

* https://www.mitsubishicomfort.com/benefits/hyper-heating

These are designed in Japan, where they often have earthquakes, and so any flammable materials (natural gas) seem not to be used for heating. Things can get quite chilly up north:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rikubetsu,_Hokkaido

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkaidō#Climate

AFAICT, the units do not have external thermometers, but rather look at the refrigerant temperature. So if the piping from the unit into your wall is short, then the refrigerant isn't exposed to the cold that much, and so may not effected as much by air temperature.

Kerosene heater is common heating method than heat pump in Japan cold area. But nowadays heat pump increasing share because it gets efficient and kerosene heating is bad for air. Especially it's prohibited to use on better insulated house, and heat pump's power is enough for such house.

I believe why natural gas heating is not popular is because they are a bit expensive and gas pipes aren't common outside big city. I'm getting curious why gas heating isn't popular even in big city (Sapporo). Your assumption (earthquake) looks reasonable for a part of reason.

Maybe gas heater is hard to install/uninstall and never use except winter. So we don't want to put all year on small house is reasonable.

Natural gas is imported into Japan on ships. It's relatively recent that it has been the inexpensive option in that scenario.

And then gas does usually need ducting or radiators.